Rich Pictures and Rich Cartoons
1. PurposeRich Pictures and Cartoons are tools to help visualise and analyse the relationships between rate processes and influencing factors within a process or processing task. They help to communicate ideas in multidisciplinary teams.Rich Pictures are used to explore the relationships between the physical and chemical aspects of processing to help build a deeper level of process understanding. They are particularly useful when considering the effects of spatial variability, such as
They can be drawn at a range of scales, from the equipment scale to the molecular scale, depending on the nature of the problem being investigated. They typically focus on a single task within a Process Definition Diagram. Where the variability in conditions within the task differs with time, then a Rich Cartoon can be developed from a sequence of Rich Pictures capturing the changing conditions and their impact on the process. |   Printable Poster Download |
2. Information requirements
Depending on the nature of the problem, the following information can help with the development of a Rich Picture or Cartoon:
Equipment related | Material related | Rate process related |
Geometry Layout of internals Agitator type, baffling and mixing pattern generated | Phases Particle size Particle size distribution Nature of continuous and dispersed phases Interactions between materials and equipment (e.g. sticky materials, settled phases) Interactions between materials (e.g. localised reaction, overgrowth of solids) | Chemical processes Heat transfer processes Mass transfer processes Other physical processes |
3. Procedure
| 1. Start at the largest scale of scrutiny |
| 2. Show the spatial arrangement of equipment internals and/or the distribution of materials as appropriate |
| 3. Annotate the picture to help describe the situation being depicted, capture key questions arising from discussion, etc |
| 4. "Zoom in" to regions of specific interest - draw additional rich pictures at appropriate scales of scrutiny to investigate these |
Rich Picture of vessel cleaning shown from the top which identified an area of poor cleaning
Rich Picture of tablet coating, useful for understanding a physical process.